"It’s desperation right now"- SHR Insider sheds light on the bitter reality of modern NASCAR

SHR insider Rodney Childers opined on the bitter reality of modern NASCAR. The crew chief for Josh Berry highlighted how scouting appropriate candidates for Cup Series teams has become a cumbersome affair lately.

After showcasing their dominance on the asphalt for over a decade, the North Carolina-based outfit announced its shutdown. Stewart-Haas Racing will cease its operations as the 2024 season concludes. This means that the personnel are free to join hands with other teams on the paddock

Factors like the team's crew, including drivers, pit crew, race engineers, spotters, and many more form a crucial combination for any team desiring to outperform their rivals. Unlike the decades-old situation, NASCAR is apparently under a scarcity of superior personnel.

The motorsport market is quite sensitive, and any team having strong financial backing and better incentives to provide could grab anyone they deem fit, which could render their rival comparatively weaker. However, this wasn't the case earlier.

Following SHR's shutdown, Rodney Childers highlighted how teams end up "poach[ing] people" even if they aren't actively doing so:

“20 years ago, it was extremely easy to find somebody to come work for your team and right now, you can’t get anybody to come work for Cup teams anymore. You’re not trying to poach people, but in reality, that’s kind of what it has turned into. You’re not trying to steal people, but it’s desperation right now to get the right people on your teams that are strong, that are committed,” Childers said via Dirty Mo Media on X.

“Even without this, it’s hard to keep good people. You know, I feel like everybody on the 4 team in general is really strong. We need to keep that core group together as long as we can, and then it still takes all the guys at the shop. It takes the guys putting the bodies. I mean, you have to have all those people to make this thing go round and that’s going to be extremely hard,” Berry's crew chief added.

Rodney Childers outlined how SHR broke the news to its employees about the shocking shutdown

Childers joined forces with SHR in 2014 as a crew chief for the retired NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick. The duo etched the Cup Series title during their first year of collaboration and exercised dominance in the subsequent years. Harvick and Childers won 36 points races and bagged 25 pole starts. Furthermore, the duo raked in the NASCAR All-Star Race win in 2018.

With the conclusion of the 2023 season, Harvick's stint with professional racing ended too. Nonetheless, Josh Berry replaced Harvick in the #4 Ford Mustang with Rodney Childers as the crew chief.

SHR boasts a roster of nearly 300 employees and breaking the shocking news to them wasn't easy. Childers outlined the "short and sweet" way in which the North Carolina-based outfit broke the news:

"They met with all the drivers first and then met with the crew chiefs second, and then went and met with the whole company. Basically it was short and sweet, told everybody that they were gonna have to shut it down at the end of the year and that they were sorry," Childers said via Dirty Mo Media on X.

So far, the SHR drivers are free agents. Chase Briscoe, Riley Herbst, or Cole Custer might have a shot at Front Row Motorsports as the Mooresville-based outfit is looking for the apt candidate to field their third charter entry in the Cup Series.